Dave Challinor reveals the Hartlepool United player to have benefited from playing behind-closed-doors

Pools are looking to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat to Eastleigh in midweek when Yeovil Town head to the North East on Saturday afternoon, the latest National League game to be played without fans amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Challinor’s side remain well placed in the promotion hunt.

One player to have seen an improvement in his level of performances this campaign is Killip.

Challinor told the Mail: “When players make mistakes, they don’t need telling the majority of the time.

"In Ben’s situation, he’s one who has benefited more than most from supporters not being in the ground because there’s pressure off a little bit.

"If you make a mistake at home, sometimes the last thing you need is 4,000 people telling you that you’ve made a mistake that you know you’ve made.

"Then you can try too hard to make up for it and forget to do the simple things.

"If that doesn’t work out then it starts to snowball and it gets worse.

"As a goalkeeper, Ben is technically excellent and his mistakes are rarely technical, they’re more over decision making.

"It’s about when to play, potentially over playing, when to come out, when to get involved, that usually if Ben does make a mistake what it will be.

"He’s become a little bit more pragmatic with his decision making and as a goalkeeper if you’re not involved that’s the best part.

"You want to almost be another spectator at times but be ready to switch on when needed.

"He’s a year more experienced, he’s reflected on last season and taken it on board.”

Challinor added: “It’s a culmination of several things, Ross [Turnbull] is a brilliant coach with the goalkeepers with his attention to detail and the technical stuff he goes through.

"As a management group, we have a squad of 20 players we can deal with and go through individually but with Ross, he goes through that stuff with the goalkeepers one on one with the goalkeepers we’ve got in.

"All improvement you see with players is down to them.

"You can tell them what they need to do but they’ve got to believe that, trust you and show the ambition and desire to play at the highest level possible and taking that on board.

Clubs in the fifth tier are awaiting the outcome of a vote to determine whether the 2020-21 campaign will continue amid funding concerns with fans not currently allowed inside stadiums during the Covid-19 pandemic.

National League clubs have until the end of the month to submit their votes for the 2020-21 National League resolution – and some have already made their feelings known.

All 66 of the National League’s member clubs were handed their resolution voting papers earlier in the week. They have 28 days to respond to the four resolutions set out by the National League.

Hartlepool United boss Dave Challinor says he has sympathy with the National League for the tough decisions they are having to make but insists the communication and leadership from league bosses could and should have been stronger.

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